


And I Will Carry You

by nan



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emotional Constipation, Emotional Manipulation, Everyone Loves Scott, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Angst, One-Sided Scott McCall/Stiles Stilinski, POV Derek Hale, Post-Nogitsune, Stiles is a Little Shit, exhausted!Scott, one-sided Derek Hale/Scott McCall, pre-Derek/Scott/Stiles, sour skittles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-14
Updated: 2014-03-14
Packaged: 2018-01-15 16:07:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1310941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nan/pseuds/nan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott's taking care of Stiles but who's taking care of Scott?</p>
            </blockquote>





	And I Will Carry You

It was the fourth day since they'd managed to banish the nogitsune. Four days since Scott challenged it, surprising it with his willingness to hurt the body it inhabited. Four days since Derek helped pin it down and for Deaton to inject it with the poison that would banish it. Four days since it was ejected from Stiles' body. It had been four days since Stiles and Scott had holed up in Scott's house; Scott quietly asking Melissa if she could stay with Stiles' dad for a while. Four days since anyone had seen either of them. Derek had been busy working with Sheriff Stilinski and Deaton to clean up the mess the nogitsune had made and while not everything was back to normal, enough things were that they could slow down. 

Derek frowned up at the house, leaning against his car, ankles crossed. Scott had been keeping in touch with all of them with brief texts letting them know he and Stiles were okay. Still, four days was a long time to be stuck in a house. Despite knowing that that the nogitsune was gone and that Stiles was himself again, Derek was worried. Squaring his shoulders, Derek walked up the front door and rang the bell. When Scott opened the door, Derek contained his shock but only barely. Scott looked exhausted; his hair was sticking in all directions and his eyes bloodshot. There was a distinctive slump in his shoulders. When he saw Derek, he smiled and Derek was instantly glad he'd come.

"Hey," he said, glancing from Scott's face to over his shoulder. The house was dark inside. 

"Hey," Scott said, clearing his throat. "Is everyone okay?" 

Derek raised his eyebrows. "I don't know. _Is_ everyone okay?"

Grinning self-consciously, Scott ran his hands over his hair; the action only made his hair worse and Derek tempered the urge to pet it down. "Yeah. We're...we're okay. Seriously though, is anything wrong? Is my mom okay? What about Kir-"

"They're fine, Scott. I came here to check on you, not to give you bad news." 

"Oh." Scott blinked at him before stepping aside. "Well, I guess you can come in then." 

Derek walked in, eyes instantly adjusting to the darkness inside. "Is Stiles okay?" he asked and immediately regretted such a stupid question. "I mean, is he..."

Scott shook his head. "He's asleep right now." They trudged up the stairs, Scott leading the way to his bedroom. Derek leaned in the doorway; Stiles lay in the middle of Scott's bed, blankets piled high on tip of him; his toes peaked out from under the blankets. A laptop sat open on the bed, screen flashing brightly. 

Reaching in and pulling the door until it was barely open a crack, Scott sat down in the hallway, back against the wall, scrubbing his hands over his face. Derek stood opposite him. "How are you holding up?" 

Scott nodded, covering up a yawn. "I'm okay." 

Derek eyed him, brow furrowed. "Are you? You look exhausted. Has anyone come by to help?" 

Rolling his head across his shoulders, Scott winced as his spine popped. "He doesn't want anyone else around. His dad, Lydia, my mom...he's afraid he'll hurt them. I think...he's afraid he'll hurt me too but he still wants me around." Scott stretched his legs out and then bent them at the knee, folding his arms over them and resting his chin on his arms. "I don't know what to do," he admitted, voice cracking. "I...thought that things would get easier after the nogitsune was gone. I mean, I knew it would be hard but. I'm not _helping_ him. I'm not doing anything." 

"I think you're doing more good than you thing," Derek said. "But you've got to take care of yourself too. When's the last time you've slept?" 

Scott's eyes narrowed and Derek realized he was actually _trying to remember_. "I don't know. It's hard to sleep. I feel like I have to be on guard, you know? I'm...if I close my eyes, I'm afraid he won't be here when I open them again. So." He shrugged. "I try not to close my eyes." 

Derek studied him and that feeling came over him again, that feeling that despite Scott's beginnings, despite never having wanted the bite or to be a werewolf or really knowing what to do with his strengths, the pack was lucky to have him. Pushing up from the wall, Derek held out his hand. "Get up." 

Scott took his hand, stumbling to his feet. Leading him back to his bedroom, Derek opened the door and froze. Stiles stared up at him from the bed, eyes wide. "Where's Scott?" 

"Hey," Scott brushed past Derek, going to the bed and sitting on it. "Hey, Derek came to see how you were doing. Is that okay?" 

Technically, Derek had come to see how _Scott_ was doing but he didn't say anything. He stood, hands out of his pockets, resisting the urge to shift his weight from foot to foot as Stiles eyed him suspiciously.

"Did he? Wow, Derek. I didn't know you cared." Stiles' eyes narrowed and Derek knew Stiles knew who he actually came to see. 

"Stiles..." Scott trailed off and Stiles looked at him, face softening. 

"No, it's okay that Derek's here." 

Scott smiled. "Is it okay if he stays for a while so I can get some sleep? I just...I don't want anything-"

"I know," Stiles interrupted, sliding over and lifting the blanket up. "It's okay." Scott stripped off his shirt and got in bed, snuggling down with a yawn. Glancing at Derek, he shrugged. "Uh...thanks. If you like to read, I have some books. And you can watch TV or something, it won't bother me." 

Derek sat down in the chair near the bed, attempting to get comfortable. He felt as awkward as Scott looked but didn't show it; instead, he rolled his eyes. "Scott, I'm capable of entertaining myself for a few hours."

"Cool. Thanks." Scott grinned at him before rolling over; pulling the blanket up high enough that only the top of his head was visible. Derek stared at him for a moment before slumping down, tilting his head until it rested on the back of the chair. The only sound in the room was Scott's quickly deepening breath and after a few minutes, Derek became uncomfortably aware that he was being watched.

"What, Stiles?" he asked, voice hushed. Looking over at the bed, Derek saw that Stiles was staring at him from over Scott's head, arms wrapped around Scott's shoulders.

"I know you didn't come here to check on me," he said, voice just as hushed as Derek's. "But I'm glad you did. Scott was running himself ragged." 

Not knowing what to say to a sincere, non-sarcastic Stiles, Derek instead went with silence. He was already beginning to regret this. Scott murmured in his sleep, curling further into himself. Derek watched Stiles' hands pet Scott's shoulders, Stiles' cheek rest atop Scott's head, and decided he was _definitely_ regretting this. 

"When it was in my head...the nogitsune, I mean," as if Derek didn't know exactly what Stiles was talking about, "it told me that it wouldn't matter that I wasn't there for Scott. It didn't matter because he didn't need me anymore." Stiles smiled; it wasn't a happy smile and Derek was uncomfortable to see it. "Why would he need a skinny, useless human when there was a strong werewolf to take his place?" 

Oh god. They were going to talk about _feelings_. "You can't possibly think you're useless," Derek said. "Don't you realize how much Scott relies on you? You're his idea guy. You're his _best friend_." 

"Yeah." Stiles looked unconvinced, still wrapped around Scott as if at any moment he would wake up and leave him. 

Shaking his head and suddenly wishing he was anywhere but here, Derek gritted out, "You're an idiot, Stiles. He...he loves you. I can't replace that." 

Stiles raised his eyebrows, expression suddenly unkind. "But you wish you could." 

Derek flinched. "What? I'm doing you a favor-"

"No, you're doing _Scott_ a favor," Stiles said. "I'm just the useless, crazy kid who's making that favor necessary." 

"If you don't stop, we're going to start arguing and we're going to wake him up," Derek said. "You want that?"

"Well I don't know, if we have to explain what we're arguing about, you might come off worse than me." But Stiles settled down, eyeing Derek thoughtfully. Derek hated that. He hated being inspected, being scrutinized. He ignored it as best he could but Stiles spoke up again. "The nogitsune said that you like Scott. Like, really like him." 

"Oh my god." Derek took a deep breath, casting a dark glare towards the bed. "I'm not discussing this with you." That was clearly the wrong thing to say because Stiles' eyes narrowed and grew calculative. 

"So was it telling the truth? You like Sco-"

"I _admire_ Scott," Derek stressed. "I admire his strength and his compassion. I admire how he always tries to do the right thing. That's it. Okay? Now shut up." Stiles looked unconvinced and Derek told himself not to care about that. What did he care what Stiles thought anyway? "Look, I'm not interested in coming in between you two and I'm not interested in being anything more to Scott than a teacher and a beta, okay? That's all I want."

"You're lying," Stiles said and Derek snarled quietly. "I know you're lying. I can tell every time you look at him. You _smolder_ , Derek. Like, 'hero on the cover of a romance novel' smolder. It's kind of embarrassing. Everyone can tell." 

"No they can't," Derek said, hating how panicked he sounded. "Because there's nothing to tell." 

Stiles was quiet for a moment before continuing. "I'm glad," he said and when Derek looked over at him, he was looking at Scott fondly, running his fingers through his hair. "That's probably weird, but I'm glad. Everyone should love Scott." He glanced up at Derek and grinned. "Besides, I know I'll always be his favorite." 

"Right." Derek paused before frowning. "Wait. You _know_ that? You...what then, what was all that crap about believing you were useless? That...that the nogitsune made you believe you were replaceable?"

Stiles shrugged at Derek's outrage. "Look, I could be the most useless guy in the world and Scott wouldn't get rid of me. That says more about his loyalty and bad taste than anything else but hey, I'll take it. And I _know_ ," he continued before Derek could say anything. "I know I'm not useless. I might think it sometimes and I might actually believe it sometimes but I know logically that it isn't true. It's just hard, reminding myself." 

"Okay, well. I don't think there's anyone who finds you as irritating as I do, so if you need reminding, just remember that I said you weren't useless. And you know I didn't say it to spare your feelings because I don't _care_ about your feelings." 

Stiles laughed. "Right. Gotcha." 

"But Stiles," Derek leaned forward. "You can't be helpful if you stay trapped in this house. You have to go outside." 

Stiles grew still. "I know. I just. I don't want to hurt anyone." 

"You won't." 

"How do you know that?" Stiles bit out. 

"Trust that Scott won't let you. And neither will I." 

Stiles looked at him for a moment, eyes narrowed, before looking away and nodding tightly. They fell silent again and Derek watched Stiles' hand play with Scott's hair. "Man, I can remember doing this when we were kids," he said. "Scott had like five pieces of gum in his hair. And this was when he had some seriously floppy hair going, I mean, it was down to his shoulders and fluffy as hell." 

Derek raised his eyebrows, willing to accept this story time. "What happened?" 

And Stiles told him. Stiles told him stories from his and Scott's shared childhood. He told Derek about when they'd got lost in the woods - their plan of camping at five and six wasn't actually a good one - and about when they got detention for stealing Jackson's clothes and ran them up a flagpole. Stiles told him about how he comforted Scott when his dad left and how Scott comforted him when his mom died. Stiles told Derek about summer vacations and winter holidays and school functions. Derek listened, hungry to more about Scott, laughing at their shared antics and sobering at their shared sorrows. 

It was during a particularly ridiculous story that Derek couldn't quite believe was real that Scott woke up, rubbing his eyes and arching his back in an unselfconscious stretch. Derek watched and Stiles watched him, one brow raised. "What are you guys talking about?" Scott asked, sitting up. 

"Nothing," Stiles said. "Just telling Derek about the turkey incident."

"Oh, man," Scott said, slapping his hands over his face. "Dude, I can't believe you told him that."

"Wait, that story was true?" Derek said.

"No!" Scott said. "Absolutely not, Stiles is so full of crap."

"Right."

" _Anyway_. Stiles, you're...you're doing better?" Scott said.

Stiles paused. "Yeah," he said. "I...I think it might be time to, you know. Maybe go outside." 

"Really? Whoa, yes, awesome!" Scott said. "I mean, you know, if you're sure you're ready?"

"I'm probably as ready as I'm ever going to be." 

"You're ready," Derek said. 

Scott looked at Derek before looking at Stiles, brow furrowed. "You guys are getting along well," he said. "What happened while I was sleeping?"

"Oh, well," Stiles began before Derek could say anything. "We just talked. Found out we shared some mutual interests." He flashed Derek a wicked grin and Derek stood, glaring hotly.

"We're not getting along _that_ well," he assured Scott. "And since you're awake, I've had about all I can stand."

"What, leaving so soon?" Stiles called out as Derek descended down the stairs. When he hit the landing, a hand caught his elbow and he turned abruptly to face Scott, who still hadn't put on a _fucking_ shirt.

"Hey, thanks," Scott said, grinning at him. "Thanks for staying with him. I don't know what you said to him but whatever it was seems to have made him feel _a lot_ better." 

Instead of admitting that all he did was give Stiles something else to torment him with, Derek said, "I just told him that you would keep him from hurting anyone and he should probably trust you more. That's all." 

Scott paused, grin softening into a smile. "Thanks. We're going to go out and get some food. You want to come?" 

He should say no. Derek knew getting dinner with them would lead to Stiles ridiculing him and Scott thinking it was funny without actually knowing what was going. But with Scott looking up at him with raised eyebrows, rocking back on the balls of his feet, Derek heard himself say, “Sure."

**Author's Note:**

> So this was basically to challenge myself to write something from Derek's POV. He's so difficult! I don't really see him as particularly broody, more like a sass master. I don't know. I guess this could be read as pre-Derek/Scott/Stiles, I don't know. Probably. That's a threesome I enjoy. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little fic that was written way too fast and that probably shows. 
> 
> [I'm on tumblr](http://yaynan.tumblr.com)!


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